Can You Put Creatine in Coffee? Heat, Caffeine and What the Research Says

By Roy Anderson, Founder of GUMO · Reviewed by Koji Wang, Physiotherapist · Last updated 23 October 2026

Yes, you can put creatine in coffee. The heat doesn't destroy it in the few minutes it takes to drink a cup, and hot coffee actually dissolves creatine better than cold water. For most people taking a normal 3 to 5g daily dose, the caffeine in a cup or two of coffee doesn't appear to cancel creatine out, although very high caffeine doses during a loading phase are worth avoiding.

Stirring creatine into your morning coffee is one of the easiest ways to make it a habit, so it's no surprise it's one of the most common questions we get. This guide covers what happens to creatine in hot coffee, where the "caffeine cancels creatine" idea came from, and how to do it without ending up with a gritty last mouthful.

Can you put creatine in coffee?

Yes. Nothing in coffee makes creatine unsafe, and you'll still get the creatine as long as you drink the cup.

Creatine monohydrate is a fine, flavourless powder, so it doesn't change the taste of coffee much. The two practical questions are whether the heat damages it and whether the caffeine gets in the way. We'll go through both. If you're new to creatine, our guide on what is creatine covers the basics.

Does hot coffee destroy creatine?

No, not in the time it takes to drink a coffee.

Creatine does slowly break down into creatinine, a waste product, once it's in liquid. A 2011 review of creatine forms by Jäger and colleagues explains that breakdown is faster at higher temperatures and in more acidic drinks. Even so, the numbers it reports are measured in days: after three days in solution at 25°C, about 4% had broken down at pH 5.5, and 21% at pH 3.5. A coffee you drink within 10 to 20 minutes loses a trivial amount.

What you don't want to do is make a big batch of creatine coffee and leave it in the fridge for days, or carry a creatine drink around in a warm bag. For more on how creatine breaks down, see does creatine expire.

Does creatine dissolve better in hot coffee?

Yes. Creatine monohydrate doesn't dissolve well in cold liquid, which is why it often leaves grit at the bottom of a glass of water.

The Jäger review gives the figures, and notes the link between temperature and solubility is almost linear: one litre of water dissolves about 6g of creatine at 4°C, 14g at 20°C, 34g at 50°C and 45g at 60°C. That means a 5g serve needs roughly 360ml of room-temperature water to fully dissolve, but only about 150ml of liquid at 50°C. A standard hot coffee can handle it. A cold glass of water often can't.

The catch is that coffee cools quickly, especially once you add cold milk, and the cooler it gets, the less creatine it can hold. That matches my own experience. When I was using creatine powder, I'd often stir it into my coffee. The taste barely changed, but I'd almost always end up with a sludge at the bottom of the cup that never fully dissolved, so eventually I stopped doing it.

If you want to try it, stir the creatine into the coffee while it's still hot, before adding milk, give it a proper stir, and finish the cup before it goes cold.

Does caffeine cancel out creatine?

Probably not at normal coffee intakes, but the research isn't completely settled.

The worry started with a 1996 study by Vandenberghe and colleagues in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Nine healthy men took a placebo, creatine, or creatine plus caffeine for six days each. The creatine dose was very high, 0.5g per kilogram of body weight a day (about 35g for a 70kg person), and the caffeine dose was 5mg per kilogram a day (about 350mg). Creatine on its own raised muscle phosphocreatine by 4 to 6% and improved leg torque by 10 to 23%. With caffeine added, the phosphocreatine still went up, but the torque improvement disappeared.

So caffeine didn't stop creatine getting into the muscle. It seemed to cancel the performance benefit. A 2002 follow-up by the same research group offered one explanation: in 10 men, creatine shortened the time muscles took to relax between contractions by about 5%, while three days of caffeine lengthened it by about 10%. Some articles say the 1996 study measured relaxation time. It didn't. That idea came from this later work.

Since then, the results have been mixed. A 2022 systematic review in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism looked at 10 studies. Among those testing longer-term use of both, two found caffeine reduced creatine's benefit, three found no interaction and one found the combination worked better. The authors concluded that taking caffeine regularly during a creatine loading phase could interfere with creatine's benefit. They also found that a pre-workout dose of caffeine still worked fine in people who had already loaded creatine, in three of four studies.

The study most people mean when they ask about coffee is a 2016 trial by Trexler and colleagues at the University of North Carolina. It gave 54 active men 20g a day of creatine for five days, either alone, with 300mg of caffeine powder, or with coffee containing about 303mg of caffeine. None of the groups did better than placebo on strength or sprint tests. That means coffee didn't blunt creatine, but it also means creatine didn't show its usual benefit in such a short study, so it doesn't settle the question either way.

There's one more study worth knowing about, because it used doses closer to everyday life. In a 2022 Canadian trial by Pakulak and colleagues, 28 trained young adults did six weeks of resistance training while taking creatine (0.1g per kilogram a day, about 7g for a 70kg person), caffeine (3mg per kilogram a day), both, or a placebo. Only the creatine-only group grew their thigh muscle measurably. The groups had just six to nine people each, so it's a weak signal, but it's a reason not to dismiss the question completely.

Why caffeine might interfere

Both a 2015 review by Trexler and Smith-Ryan and the 2022 systematic review point to two likely reasons. The first is muscle relaxation, as in the 2002 study above: the two pull in opposite directions. The second is the stomach. In the Trexler study, 4 of the 13 people taking creatine with caffeine powder reported mild stomach discomfort, while no side effects were reported in the other groups. An upset stomach could easily drag down performance.

What this means for your morning coffee

The clearest interference comes from studies that combined a creatine loading phase with a high daily caffeine dose. For someone taking 3 to 5g a day with no loading phase and a cup or two of coffee, any effect is likely to be small, though the small 2022 trial means I wouldn't call it zero. My take: if coffee is what gets you taking creatine every day, that consistency is worth more than the risk of a small interaction. If you're doing a loading phase (see our creatine loading phase guide), it's reasonable to keep caffeine moderate for those five to seven days or skip loading altogether.

For a sense of scale, Food Standards Australia New Zealand says there's no official safe daily limit for caffeine. Its expert group did link about 3mg per kilogram a day to increased anxiety in children, which FSANZ says is equivalent to about 240mg a day for an adult, or roughly three cups of instant coffee. The 1996 study used more than that.

"None of my patients have asked whether coffee cancels out creatine. What I do hear is that since starting creatine, they feel they have more energy and can push past the 3pm crash. As for taking it with coffee, there's no issue. It's completely fine to have both."

Koji Wang, Physiotherapist, Balwyn Physio

Is it better to take creatine with coffee or water?

It doesn't make much difference to how well creatine works. What matters most is taking it every day.

Water is the simplest option if you want to keep things separate. Coffee is fine if it's what helps you remember. If coffee and creatine together upset your stomach, take them a few hours apart. Our guide on when to take creatine covers timing in more detail, and the short answer is that the best time is whichever time you'll stick to.

For what it's worth, I take four gummies with my coffee every morning, about an hour after I wake up. I haven't noticed any difference between taking creatine with coffee and without it.

Gummies also sidestep the dissolving problem. Four GUMO creatine gummies give you 5g of creatine monohydrate, so you can have them next to your coffee instead of in it, with no sludge at the bottom of the cup.

A note on bias: GUMO makes creatine gummies, so we'd naturally prefer you chew your creatine rather than stir it. That's why every claim in this guide links to its source, and powder in coffee works fine if you finish it hot.

What not to mix creatine with

Very little. Creatine can go in water, juice, milk, smoothies, protein shakes, coffee or tea. A few things are worth keeping in mind:

• Don't premix and store it. Creatine slowly breaks down in liquid over days, faster in acidic drinks like juice.
• Go easy on very high caffeine doses during a loading phase, based on the mixed research above.
• If you're sensitive to stomach upset, avoid taking a large creatine dose with a strong coffee on an empty stomach.

Alcohol is a separate question, covered in creatine and alcohol. For stomach issues and other side effects, see creatine side effects.

Frequently asked questions

Can I put creatine in my hot coffee?

Yes. Hot coffee dissolves creatine better than cold liquid, and the heat won't meaningfully break it down in the time it takes to drink it. Stir it in before adding milk so it dissolves fully.

Does heat destroy creatine?

Not quickly. Creatine breaks down into creatinine faster in hot or acidic liquids, but the losses are measured over days, not minutes. Just don't leave a creatine drink sitting for long.

Is it safe to mix creatine and caffeine?

For healthy adults at normal intakes, yes. The main side effect reported when they're taken together is mild stomach discomfort in some people. You'll also read that you need to drink extra water because of dehydration, but a 2021 review of creatine myths found the research doesn't support creatine causing dehydration.

Can you put creatine in tea?

Yes, the same rules apply as for coffee. Stir it into the tea while it's hot, before any milk, and drink it fresh.

Can you put creatine in iced coffee?

You can, but expect grit. At fridge temperature, a litre of water only dissolves about 6g of creatine, so a 5g serve needs around 830ml of cold liquid to fully dissolve. Stir it into a small shot of hot coffee or water first, then pour that over ice.

Can I mix creatine with coffee and protein powder?

Yes. Nothing in protein powder stops creatine working. It's mostly a question of texture, so stir well and drink it straight away.

Does coffee with milk affect creatine?

Milk doesn't stop creatine working, but cold milk lowers the temperature of the coffee, which makes creatine less likely to fully dissolve. Add the creatine before the milk.

Does creatine affect sleep?

Creatine isn't a stimulant, so unlike the caffeine in your coffee it isn't expected to keep you awake. Most of the sleep research looks at the opposite question: in a 2024 study, a single very large dose (0.35g per kilogram, about 25g for a 70kg person) improved some thinking tasks during a night without sleep. That's not a dose to try at home.

Should I take creatine before or after my coffee?

It doesn't really matter. Take them together if that's easier, or separate them by a few hours if the combination upsets your stomach.

Sources

• Jäger R. et al. (2011). Analysis of the efficacy, safety, and regulatory status of novel forms of creatine. Amino Acids, 40(5), 1369 to 1383
• Vandenberghe K. et al. (1996). Caffeine counteracts the ergogenic action of muscle creatine loading. Journal of Applied Physiology, 80(2), 452 to 457
• Hespel P. et al. (2002). Opposite actions of caffeine and creatine on muscle relaxation time in humans. Journal of Applied Physiology, 92(2), 513 to 518
• Trexler E.T. and Smith-Ryan A.E. (2015). Creatine and caffeine: considerations for concurrent supplementation. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 25(6), 607 to 623
• Pakulak A. et al. (2022). Effects of creatine and caffeine supplementation during resistance training on body composition, strength, endurance, rating of perceived exertion and fatigue in trained young adults. Journal of Dietary Supplements, 19(5), 587 to 602
• Elósegui S. et al. (2022). Interaction between caffeine and creatine when used as concurrent ergogenic supplements: a systematic review. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 32(4), 285 to 295
• Trexler E.T. et al. (2016). Effects of coffee and caffeine anhydrous intake during creatine loading. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 30(5), 1438 to 1446
• Antonio J. et al. (2021). Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show? Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 18(1), 13
• Gordji-Nejad A. et al. (2024). Single dose creatine improves cognitive performance and induces changes in cerebral high energy phosphates during sleep deprivation. Scientific Reports, 14, 4937
• Food Standards Australia New Zealand: Caffeine

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About the author
Roy Anderson is the founder of GUMO and has taken creatine daily for over three years. He started GUMO after seeing brand after brand sell creatine gummies with little or no creatine inside. Every batch of GUMO Creatine Gummies is third party lab tested in Australia, with the results published. Read more about Roy →